Recently, the idea of equipping a portable cellular phone with a biometric authentication feature has been suggested (JP2007-86846 A), and such portable cellular phones equipped with biometric authentication features have actually emerged. In such portable cellular phones, users register their biometric patterns, e.g., fingerprint patterns, in advance; the aforementioned biometric patterns are compared with user's biometric pattern obtained through a biometric sensor provided in the portable cellular phone in order to check whether or not the biometric pattern matches; and when the user's identity is verified, usage authority is given to the user.